Calkins claims NYS title

Sunday

Mar 2, 2014 at 10:46 AMMar 2, 2014 at 10:46 AM

From staff reports

ALBANY — Connor Calkins took his rightful place above the rest in New York state.Calkins polished off a dominant undefeated season with the New York State Division II 285-pound championship on Saturday at the Times Union Center in Albany.Calkins, the No. 1 seed at 285, cruised past his first two opponents of the tournament. Calkins pinned Canastota's Jacob Morris in 1:36 in the first round before a pin of Oneida's Tyler Havender in 1:42 in the quarterfinals.Calkins then won a thriller in the semifinals over Sidney's Austin Dean. Calkins held on for a 14-13 decision over Dean to reach the finals against Cohoes' Nick Scott, who needed two overtime periods to edge Schalmont's Marcus Ramundo in the other semifinal.In the finals, Calkins finished off his season with a record of 55-0 with a 10-5 win over Scott. In the first period Calkins got a near fall and led 4-0. Scott cut Calkins' lead to 6-4 after the second period after an early takedown. Then in the third, Calkins got one more takedown in the final minute to clinch the title.Calkins finished 5th at the state championships in 2013 despite starting that tournament as the No. 16 seed. Calkins knocked off the top seed in the opening round of the 2013 tournament, but is now the undisputed champion in 2014.Addison's Trey DuVall (182) and Ward Hively (195) both finished third.Duvall reached the quarterfinals at 182, pinning Petrides School's Mike Esposito in the first round before a 6-4 loss to Schalmonth's Nick Gallo. Duvall then made his way into the third-place match with wins over Eldred-Falls-Liberty's Kevin Morgans, Northern Adirondack's Matt Lashway, and Port Byron's Chris Pinckney before a rematch with Gallo.DuVall then edged Gallo, 4-3, in the rematch to finished third.Hively also reached the championship quarterfinals with a pin of Mattituck's Adam Goode in 1:19 before a 6-3 loss to Vernon Ver Sherrill's Lane Frost. Hively then made his way into the third-place match with wins over Schalmont's Tim Flower, Red Jacket's Andrew Ogrodowski, and South Jefferson's Logan Laflamme before beating Frewsburg's Trevor Spicer, 7-3, in the third-place match.Alfred-Almond's other state qualifier, Dan Woughter, reached the semifinals at 152 before dropping an overtime decision to Tyler Silverthorn of General Brown out of Section III. Woughter would eventually finished 6th overall.Woughter opened the tournament with a 9-7 win over Peru's Tanner Phillips and a 3-2 victory over Maple Grove's Brian Westerdahl in the quarterfinals. Silverthorn then edged Woughter in a thriller semifinal to set up a championship match against Norwich's Frank Garcia, the top seed in the weight class.Woughter then lost his first consolation match to Albany Academy's Cam Milliken by pinfall at 4:26. In the fifth-place match, Woughter then lost a 7-4 decision to Simon Brekinridge.At 126, Campbell-Savona's Joel Rosko reached the quarterfinals before a 4-2 loss to Midlakes' Rafael Mateo III. Rosko earned a forfeit win over Windsor's Nate Hayes in the first round. Rosko then lost in his first consolation match to Maine-Endwell's Kobe Garrehy, 8-4.

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